The diet, population structure and breeding of ship rats (Rattus rattus L.) from Fiordland National Park were assessed from measurements and gut sample analysis of 248 rats trapped between March 2009 and March 2010, following a mast beech seedfall. They consumed many lepidopteran larvae but fewer weta and more vegetative plant matter than in other habitats, as well as beech seed.

Experimental field trials were used to compare the attractiveness to stoats (Mustela erminea) and ferrets (M. furo) of traps set with either a synthetic scent lure or with fresh food bait. One lure, containing 2‐ n ‐propylthietane, effectively attracted as many ferrets as did rabbit meat bait. Fewer stoats were caught with this lure than with egg bait. Made up in a slow‐release formulation in “plastic rope”, the lure remained attractive to ferrets for at least 2 weeks under sunny field conditions. Traps containing a second lure, 3‐ n ‐propyl‐l,2‐dithiolane, were less successful at catching both mustelid species than those containing fresh food baits. The scent lures were not attractive to non‐target species, but neither did they deter some species.

I examine individual recognition of crowing calls in the pukeko ( Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus Temminck). Qualitative and quantitative acoustic analyses show that crowing calls of individual males differ, but not females. These calls do not conform to a group signature. Both sexes respond selectively to the played‐back crowing calls of different male pukeko. They respond most strongly to the calls of a stranger, less to those of neighbours, and less still to those of fellow group members. Males respond more strongly and move more often towards the sound than do females. This is explained by the greater role males play in territorial defence. Individuality in crowing calls is seen as being important in territorial advertisement and in identification of individuals within an interterritorial dominance hierarchy.

We tested scent lures made from the anal gland secretions of male and female ferrets ( Mustela furo L.) at 0.1–2% concentration in “Albert”, a solid, long‐life, casein‐based formulation, as attractants for feral ferrets in winter and spring. Live traps at 10 study sites in Canterbury and Otago lured with 2% female scent caught significantly more ferrets (1.00 per 100 corrected trap nights) than those lured with a fish‐based paste (0 per 100 CTN), and at least twice as many as those lured with male scent or lower concentrations of female scent. The traps lured with the 2% female scent caught both male and female ferrets in approximately equal numbers, at a time of year when it is sometimes difficult to capture females. Capture rates of female ferrets increased with increasing female scent lure concentration, but this response was not shown by male ferrets, nor was it shown by either sex to increases in concentration of male scent lures. The results of this study have confirmed the findings of previous studies about the potential of ferret anal gland secretions as lures for ferrets. Further research is needed, using radio‐telemetry, to determine what proportion of the ferret population is attracted to these lures compared with traditional rabbit meat lures, and whether this varies seasonally.

(2001). Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990–2000: Feral ferret. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 185-203.